Like any good team, most parties in a game of D&D have their different positions. Everything from AD&D to Golden Axe to The Lord of the Rings has an ideal blend of several specialized classes, what some gamers would call a “balanced party.” In this current age of 4E, it sounds something like Controller/Defender/Leader/Striker. It’s…
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Todays edition of Gamer Cheat Sheets deals with a non-conflict oriented staple of RPGs: locks and how to unlock them. As someone who has picked a lock or two in my life, I can honestly say that the satisfaction of “solving” a lock is incredible. The subtle pop of an unlocked lock feels like a…
As anyone who sees the links in our Twitter feed must know by now, I’m a big fan of Dyson Logos’ work. If you haven’t been introduced, he blogs about geomorphs (among many other things) . Geomorphs are bits of maps which can be rotated and randomly stuck together to make maps that have a…
During the initial discussions about creating Intwischa, Chase, Bryan, Matt and I spent time looking at other gaming blogs to get a feel for what is out there. There is a lot of good stuff–I’m intentionally avoiding name-dropping right now, because my point is not the good stuff. My point is the bad stuff, much…
There are two ways to play any game, and that includes a role-playing game: You can play to win, or you can play to have fun. Unless you’re getting paid, you should be playing to have fun. If you’re playing any role-playing game, especially D&D, there’s no such thing as “winning”- unless you count not…
Stranger Than Fiction is an ongoing series looking at history, mythology, and folk tales. These stories offer a wealth of inspiration for your games. Just about any theme you can think of can be found by looking back at human history: battles, intrigue, treachery, and heroism. It may seem strange that we group these sources…
This is the second post in our series on The Value of Systems. Each post will look at a different RPG system and evaluate it based on what it does well, what it doesn’t intend to do, and possible tweaks to extend the system to cover what it doesn’t intend to do. We are not…
Have you ever poured through books to find ideas for antagonists appropriate for your game, only to discover that nothing quite fits? For a lot of D&D GMs, turning to the Monster Manual for inspiration is a time-honored sport. Unfortunately, if you want something specific, you might be out of luck. For me, the problem…
“Steal This Idea” is an ongoing series in which an element from the media is examined for use in games. These articles will provide a basic description of the scene in which the element occurs is necessary to introduce the idea for gaming, and hooks to use that idea in various kinds of RPGs. We…
I think it only fair to warn you before we go any further: My review of anything with Dark Sun in the title will read very much like a review your parents might have written about your performance as “Munchkin #2″ in your fifth-grade production of The Wizard of Oz. The Dark Sun Campaign setting…